Martin Lewis‘s MoneySavingExpert is reminding Brits about the rules around support worth up to £490 for some 470,000 families.
Lewis’s publication has issued a guide to free school meals and how parents can apply for the help. If you are in receipt of any of the following benefits, then your child may qualify for a hot meal at school, free of charge.
Some children automatically qualify for them, though this can depend on where they live.
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- The guaranteed element of Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
- Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for four weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
- Universal Credit – if you apply on or after April 1, 2018 – your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)
Outside London, a child will also qualify for free school meals if they are in a state-funded school in Reception, Year 1 or Year 2.
In the capital, all primary aged children to the age of 11 at state-funded schools qualify for free schools meals this school year.
State school children in Scotland automatically receive free school meals in primary one to primary five. In Wales, all primary aged children in state schools started to get free school meals from September.
Rules differ in Northern Ireland, where free school meals aren’t available automatically.
If you meet the criteria for free school meals, then you can apply for them and should do so beofre the new school year begins.
In England, Scotland and Wales, you should apply to your local council. Those in Northern Ireland apply directly to Stormont using its online form.
Outside term time, your child could also get help, though this depends again on where you live.
Children in England who are eligible can take part in a Holiday Activity and Food Programme (HAF) in the summer and Easter and Christmas holidays. HAF offers at least one free meal per day, according to Moneysavingexpert.
Applying for the programme differs depending on the council. You should contact your local council to find out how to apply.
Food vouchers can also be handed out by local authorities, though this is up to each council, through the Household Support Fund.
